Events in the year 1959 in the Republic of India.

Incumbents

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...

–

Rajendra Prasad Rajendra Prasad (3 December 1884 – 28 February 1963) was an Indian politician, lawyer, Indian independence activist, journalist & scholar who served as the first president of Republic of India from 1950 to 1962. He joined the Indian Nationa ...

* Prime Minister of India –

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

Vice President of India The vice president of India (IAST: ) is the deputy to the head of state of the Republic of India, i.e. the president of India. The office of vice president is the second-highest constitutional office after the president and ranks second in the ...

–

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (; 5 September 1888 – 17 April 1975), natively Radhakrishnayya, was an Indian philosopher and statesman. He served as the 2nd President of India from 1962 to 1967. He also 1st Vice President of India from 1952 ...

* Chief Justice of India –

Sudhi Ranjan Das Sudhi Ranjan Das (1 October 1894 – 18 September 1977) was the 5th Chief Justice of India, serving from 1 February 1956 to 30 September 1959. Das also served as chairman of '' The Statesman''. Background and education S.R. Das was born in ...

(until 30 Sep.),

Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha of Shahabad (now Bhojpur), Bengal Presidency (1 February 1899 – 12 November 1986) was the 6th Chief Justice of India (1 October 1959 – 31 January 1964). He also served as the president of the Bharat Scouts and G ...

(starting 1 Oct.)

Governors

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

– Bhim Sen Sachar *

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

– ** until 22 August: Saiyid Fazal Ali ** 23 August-14 October:

Chandreswar Prasad Sinha Chandreswar Prasad Sinha was an Indian jurist who served as Governor of Assam This is a list of governors of Assam, and other offices of similar scope, from the start of British occupation of the area in 1824 during the First Anglo-Burmese W ...

** starting 14 October: Satyavant Mallannah Shrinagesh *

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

–

Zakir Hussain Zakir Hussain ( ur, , link=no) is the name of: * Zakir Husain (politician), an Indian politician and former president of India * Zakir Hussain (actor), Bollywood actor * Zakir Hussain (field hockey) (1934–2019), Pakistani field hockey player * ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

–

Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar (18 July 1919 – 23 September 1974) was the 25th Maharaja of Mysore from 1940 to 1950, who later served as the governor of Mysore and Madras states. Early life Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar was born on 18 July 1919 at M ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

–

Burgula Ramakrishna Rao Dr. Burgula Ramakrishna Rao (13 March 1899 – 15 September 1967) was the second and last Chief Minister of the erstwhile Hyderabad State. Prior to the independence of India and the political integration of the princely states into the Union ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

–

Hari Vinayak Pataskar Hari Vinayak Pataskar was an Indian lawyer, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Poona and politician who was a member of the Constituent Assembly of India and a former Governor of Madhya Pradesh. In 1963, he was awarded the Padma Vibhush ...

* Maharashtra – Sri Prakasa *

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

– Yeshwant Narayan Sukthankar *

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

– Narahar Vishnu Gadgil *

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

–

Gurumukh Nihal Singh Gurmukh Nihal Singh (14 March 1895 – 22 December 1969) was the first Governor of Rajasthan and second Chief Minister of Delhi from 1955 to 1956 and was a Congress leader. He was the successor of Chaudhary Brahm Prakash Chaudhary Brahm ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

–

Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi (; 30 December 1887 – 8 February 1971), popularly known by his pen name Ghanshyam Vyas, was an Indian independence movement activist, politician, writer and educationist from Gujarat state. A lawyer by profession, ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

–

Padmaja Naidu Padmaja Naidu (17 November 1900 – 2 May 1975) was an Indian freedom fighter and politician who was the 4th Governor of West Bengal from 3 November 1956 to 1 June 1967. She was daughter of Sarojini Naidu. Early life Padmaja Naidu was born in H ...

Events

* March 31 - India grants political asylum to the

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current D ...

after he fled

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

and crossed into Indian territory following

1959 Tibetan uprising The 1959 Tibetan uprising (also known by other names) began on 10 March 1959, when a revolt erupted in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, which had been under the effective control of the People's Republic of China since the Seventeen Point Agreem ...

. * April 10 - An

English Electric Canberra The English Electric Canberra is a British first-generation, jet-powered medium bomber. It was developed by English Electric during the mid- to late 1940s in response to a 1944 Air Ministry requirement for a successor to the wartime de Havil ...

jet bomber of Indian Air Force that crossed into Pakistani Airspace was shot down near Rawalpindi by Pakistan Air Force's Sabre jets. * May 1 -

gave assent for ''Reserve Bank of India (Amendment) Act 1959'' which created provision for introduction of ''External Rupee (Gulf Rupee and Hajj Rupee)'' for using as tender in

Trucial States The Trucial States ( '), also known as the Trucial Coast ( '), the Trucial Sheikhdoms ( '), Trucial Arabia or Trucial Oman, was the name the British government gave to a group of tribal confederations in southeastern Arabia whose leaders had s ...

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

etc. The move is meant to curb the misuse of

Indian rupee The Indian rupee ( symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency in the republic of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 ''paise'' (singular: ''paisa''), though as of 2022, coins of denomination of 1 rupee are the lowest value in use w ...

by gold smugglers. * July 31 - The EMS ministry, an elected communist government in

brought down through President's rule following

Vimochana Samaram The Liberation Struggle in Kerala (1958–59) was a period of anticommunist protest against the first elected state government in Kerala, India, which was led by E. M. S. Namboodiripad of the Communist Party of India. Organised opposition to ...

Dates unknown

Bajaj Auto Bajaj Auto Limited () is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing company based in Pune. It manufactures motorcycles, scooters and auto rickshaws. Bajaj Auto is a part of the Bajaj Group. It was founded by Jamnalal Bajaj (1889–1942) ...

obtains license from

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

to manufacture two- and three-wheelers in India.

Statistics

* National income - 163,841 million

Law

Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of India The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as The Constitution (Eighth Amendment) Act, 1959, amended article 334 of the Constitution in order to extend the period of reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and Sche ...

Births

*3 January –

Ninong Ering Ninong Ering (born 3 January 1959) is an Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress. He represented the Arunachal East (Lok Sabha constituency) in Lok Sabha, the lower house of Indian Parliament from 2009 to 2019. He was the Un ...

, politician and member of parliament from Arunachal East. *6 January –

Kapil Dev Kapil Dev Ramlal Nikhanj (Pronunciation: əpiːl deːʋ born 6 January 1959) is an Indian former cricketer. He was a fast-medium bowler and a hard-hitting middle-order batsman, and was named by '' Wisden'' as the Indian Cricketer of the Cen ...

, cricketer. *29 July –

Sanjay Dutt Sanjay Balraj Dutt (born 29 July 1959) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning over four decades, Dutt has won several accolades and acted in over 100 films, ranging from romance to comedy genres, though u ...

, actor. *19 December – H. D. Kumaraswamy, politician and Chief Minister of

Deaths

*1 November –

M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar Mayavaram Krishnasamy Thiyagaraja Bhagavathar (1 March 1910 – 1 November 1959), also known by his initials as M. K. T., was an Indian actor, producer and Carnatic singer. He is considered to be one of the most successful actors in Tamil cine ...

, actor and Carnatic singer (born 1909). *4 December –

Ahmad Saeed Dehlavi Ahmad Saeed Dehlavi (also known as Sahbān al-Hind; 1888 – 4 December 1959) was an Indian Muslim scholar and freedom struggle activist who served as the first general secretary and the fifth president of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind. He also served as ...

, freedom fighter and first general secretary of the

Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind or Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind () is one of the leading organizations of Islamic scholars belonging to the Deobandi school of thought in India. It was founded in November 1919 by a group of Muslim scholars including Abdul Bari Fi ...

. (born 1888)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1959 in India

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Years of the 20th century in India